After sipping cocktails, long chats into the night, fantastic cullinary and visual experiences, which saw my father receive more than one clip on the ear per day and severely bruised ribs, I returned to Singapore from Bali looking forward to the Panasonic Kranji Mile this Sunday, writes Gareth Pepper.
One dampner is the haze situation in Singapore.
With large-scale burning in Sumatra and Borneo, strong winds carry the haze caused by the fires into Singapore and the normally bright blue bustling city is reduced to a smoke inhaling dense picture that resembles that creepy house set amongst the willows you would normally see in the Hollywood thriller movies.
I feel for everyone here as it is so unhealthy and the horses too must be taking strain, not to mention the poor environment.
Back to the $500 000 Mile, Spalato tops the ratings in this WFA contest and a gaping omission is reigning horse of the year War Affair.
But to fill the void, we have the Patrick Shaw trained star Quechua.
Great Gallop
Quechua – good work and everybody is happy
Several hours before penning this he put in a scintillating grass gallop and was moving so fluidly, probably the best I have seen him move to date, that he gave me the impression that although a touch on the sharp side, he has shown before and gives me the impression he could spoil the favourite’s party.
Pat Shaw was extremely happy – Quechua really worked to perfection. Corey worked him exactly how he wanted and it could turn out to be a fantastic birthday present for him.
Big race pilot Corey Brown was full of praise for him and had this to say: ” He ran out the 1200m grass gallop very well and his final 600m – finish time was 35,5 seconds, with a lot left in hand. He is in great form, working well and I am expecting him to run another great race.”
Spalato
I spoke to John O’Hara, the trainer of Spalato and if I were to nitpick the champion’s last victory, it would be that he raced far too keenly and it was perhaps his raw ability and class that pulled him through – he did win easing up however, so I am being picky!
John is of the opinion that he has most definitely settled to his liking in a slightly altered work pattern and he doesn’t see the same transpiring on Sunday. He has a great deal of respect for Quechua but he feels Spalato is in tip-top shape and will once again be a massive force to be reckoned with.
For me, it is a two horse race and I really hope that a tussle between the two does materialise. May the best horse win.
Goodbye
Dan Excel sets a new course record in the 2014 SIA Cup
A short note on the recent announcement that The SIA Cup and Krisflyer Sprint are to be discontinued.
I have been lucky enough to attend two SIA Cup’s and have always found them to be professionally run and amazing to attend.
Who could forget Jay Peg flying the South African flag with a scintillating victory with Anton Marcus aboard in 2008. Then two years later Mike De Kock and KB Shea took it out with Lizard’s Desire in Sheik Khalifa’s famous Yellow and Royal Blue v-bib silks and one year later it was my chance to experience the SIA Cup and it was the one that Gitano Hernando won edging out River Jetez.
Most recently, I was lucky enough to be a part of the broadcast team this year and it has so far been the highlight of my year.
It is sad indeed that it has come to an end. One facet I really did enjoy was the meeting and networking with various media and role players from around the world, not to mention the high class thoroughbreds, trainers and jockeys from all over the world.
The whole week and functions leading up to it were well executed and I hope that a similar idea or race will come to fruition in the not too distant future.
Till next time.
